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SANDALO, SEVILLE INCREASES THE EFFICIENCY OF ITS DISTRIBUTION PROCESS, THANKS TO THE COLLABORATION WITH SYSTEM LOGISTICS.

A new fully automated distribution center allows Spanish logistics operator Sandalo to serve - on behalf of Coca -Cola Iberian Partners - Ho.Re.Ca, their channel outlets and supermarkets in 15 major cities of southern Spain from a single platform, bypassing regional distribution centers and turning local distributors into cross-docking platforms.

Located in Seville, the new distribution center was put into operation in 2012, and covers an area of more than 30,000 sqm on 3 levels in height. The plant receives 35 trucks per day inbound and serves 260 outbound shipments per day. Currently, the plant distributes about 2,500 products.

The system receives both Coca-Cola branded products, from the nearby bottling line which is connected directly, or from other Coca-Cola production sites, as well as products from other manufacturers.

The area of intensive storage consists of a self-supporting structure 32 m high, which contains 33 aisles of racking, each served by a stacker crane. The total storage capacity stands at 110,000 pallet places.

The order picking activity is estimated at 3,000 order lines per day and is performed automatically for almost all of the products. The picking process is handled with the logic "goods to man" and can be performed in layers, stacks or columns, or single piece.

Finally, the shipping area is powered and connected to the automated storage warehouse through the installation of 3 automated pallet transportation rings in which a total of 32 SVL (System Vehicle Loop) vehicles circulate transferring the pallets to the conveyors corresponding to each shipping bay.

The MOPS picking system

Automated picking and palletizing activities are managed by the MOPS solution (Modular Order Picking System), which , in this case , consists of the following five sub-systems:

Automatic depalletizing stations by layers for the automatic removal of packages;

Racking served by mini-load for the temporary storage of items related to the slow-moving SKUs that will be required within two days;

VLS ( Vertical Lift Sequencer ) buffer sequencers for the temporary storage of items related to the fast-moving SKUs that will be required in the next hour, and sequencing of packages intended for palletizing stations , relative to the proper positioning of the product on the customer order pallet.

Automatic palletizing stations for packages providing the desired customer order pallet configuration to meet the needs of stackability and specific customer wishes.

Conveyor system that transfers the packages between the different sub-systems with positive tracking and non-package to package contact while conveying.

Conclusions

Thanks to centralizating their stock and their high commitment to flexible automation, Sandalo has successfully improved the efficiency of their entire distribution process.